TV’s Best and Worst Moms: From Dearly Devoted to Deadly (PHOTOS)

TV’s Best and Worst Moms: From Dearly Devoted to Deadly

Motherhood is no walk in the park, let’s be real, but it gets especially crazy in small-screen fantasy land, where pesky things like murder and infidelity happen on the reg. While some TV mothers are rendered in 50 shades of gray, like Orphan Black's well-intentioned but deeply damaged Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany), others are either undeniably awesome or completely terrible — like, scary bad — when it comes to parenthood. TV moms can pick up the pieces after a really rough plot arc, or provide a valuable moral compass in the event of a difficult dilemma... or they can cause that rough spot or conflict in the first place. Because after all, every human character, whether a hero, villain, or an anti-hero, came from a mama in one way or another.

With Mother’s Day coming up tomorrow, May 11, let’s alternately praise and roll our eyes at television’s best and worst moms, who fall along the broad spectrum from brilliant (think Tami Taylor of Friday Night Lights, Lorelai Gilmore of Gilmore Girls, or supermom Clair Huxtable of The Cosby Show) to psycho-bitch (ahem, The O.C. princess Julie Cooper).

Who are our picks for TV's best and worst moms? Click through the gallery for some examples, and let us know if you agree in the comments!